a concept in psychology that describes a communicative situation in which the subject receives mutually contradictory instructions belonging to different levels of communication. One message seems to negate another, for example: a child is asked to speak freely, but is criticized or silenced every time he does so. The essence of the concept is that a person receives a double message from a significant other (family member, partner, close friend) at various communicative levels: one thing is expressed in words, and another is expressed in intonation or non-verbal behavior.